Today I received news that the chances are that I would be traded to another club – said the basketball player. Asked whether the club is unable to guarantee him a place in the starting composition, Gortat just smiled mysteriously.

I love it when Gortat smiles mysteriously.

Gortat has wanted to be traded — he wants to play more and the Magic have Dwight Howard in front of him. Gortat’s good, but if you have Howard you play him all you can. The Magic have told Gortat they would move him in the right deal.

The Magic are looking to shake up their roster some after they fell in the conference semi-finals last playoffs. Gortat has value, and could bring a good player to the Magic.

Quality backup big men are hard to find. Sure, there are plenty of big stiffs around who will happily soak up salary and a few minutes here and there, giving you a big body for practice and the odd rebound. Bit guys who can actually contribute, much harder to come by.

“Stan Van Gundy and Otis Smith told me that when they have chance to get big star, they won’t hesitate and will add me to this trade. But teams don’t get players to just put them on the bench. (On) another team, there won’t be second Dwight Howard and I will have twice bigger chance to play. It could be step forward for me.”

Gortat was asked if he wants to stay with the Magic or have an opportunity for more playing time elsewhere.

“I was thinking about this many times. It’s good to be on a team which plays almost to the end of the playoffs, even if you play only 8-10 minutes. But on the other hand I would like to play for a team when I’ll have chance to fight for starting 5 and for example, score 20 points, (which) is one of my dreams. So it’s hard dilemma.”

This summer Gortat will get plenty of court time playing for the Polish national team. No Dwight Howards from Poland to soak up the minutes in front of him.

Playing for the national team gets Gortat a chance to develop and show off some other parts of his game — like a midrange jumper. Something the Magic could use in a four. So consider this summer his audition to get some burn at the four along side Howard, just not waiting for him to need a blow.

The Bulls have already cleared out a lot of cap space if the Kirk Hinrich trade goes through (meaning unless Washington sobers up) but they would still like to move Deng and are shopping him around.

One rumor now in few places was Deng going to the Orlando Magic for Martin Gortat and Mikhail Petrius.

This deal may not be likely. You can be sure the Bulls would take that deal in a second. You get the feeling right now they’d trade Deng for one of the kids with the mops who runs out during games to wipe up sweat. Anything to get out from under that deal.

For the Magic, it’s about finding a way to win a title. Does Deng give you that? Well, if Stan Van Gundy has a magical elixir that gets Deng to play up to his potential, with real energy, every night, then yes. But if you don’t believe in magical potions, this trade is sort of a wash in talent.

And the Magic are locked in to Deng for a four years at $51 million. So it doesn’t make a lot of sense.